Surgeon Follow Appointment

Today was Taren's follow up appointment with his surgeon who placed his shunt. Besides waiting for over and hour at his appointment before anyone came into the room (which is impossible with a 1 yr old who wants to get down & move!!). His appointment went great. The MRI looked awesome!!! The shunt is looking perfect & he has healed great from surgery. His ventricles have actually gotten smaller which is not always the case, so his surgeon was very pleased about that. His surgeon is even more hopeful than before that Taren is in the 40% that does not become shut dependent, & will not need to come in in the future for shut malfunction surgery!!

Also, Last month when I went into Taren's routine Dr. appointment, the Dr. I saw there thought perhaps his frontal suture was beginning to close up to early causing a slight bump the runs down from his hair line to nose. When this is the case, surgery to correct this is often the case. We were prying that this was not the case for Taren. His surgeon took a look at his forehead & said that is is perfectly fine & does not require any surgery. It was not pre-closer but that it formed a slight ridge when it closed. He said Taren has a broad forehead so he thinks as he grows you will no longer notice it. (it is not very noticable now anyways) If at age 10 it is still noticeable they can do a cosmetic surgery to take the ridge away.. (no thank you!) :)

Thank you for everyone who was praying for this appointment. We are very happy to hear good news & that Taren is doing so well. He is our achiver!! We are continueing to pray that his shunt will not malfunction & that he will be in the 40% that never has to go back in for surgery!

Taren's 1st Time in the Sand!

This last weekend Joseph & I went with some good friends of ours to the beach. It was not Taren's 1st time at the beach, however, the last time we took him he was still newborn & did not get to play in the sand. S0 this time was his 1st time getting down & playing in the sand. He enjoyed the sand alot. He actually really enjoyed eating the sand. Sat there and eat handful after handful of it. :( Here are some cute pictures of our time.

Taren's Birthday Party

Thank you everyone who came to celebrate Taren's 1st birthday! It was a lot of fun to have you all there! Also thank you for all of the gifts! We were so blessed with everything that Taren got! He is loving every gift!! Here are some cute pictures of the party.

1 years old!

I cannot believe it! My Baby is 1 years old today! Where has the time gone!!! I remember like it was yesterday finding out I was pregnant! As I dreamed about him during the months of pregnancy and what he would be like, none of them lived up to the amazing boy I have! He is so full of life & adventure! He is our little dare devil! Our curious George! Our thunder achiever! Our fighter!! I have no idea what our lives would be like without him. He brings so much joy & laughter to our day!
He is such a big boy now & doing a new thing everyday! We love watching him discover everything around him & the pure joy he gets from the simplest things like a spoon or a plastic lid. His laughter is contagious & we love to tickle him or do anything goofy to hear him laugh! His smile lights up his whole face & melts the hearts of everyone around! We cannot go out in public with him without being stopped every few minutes for someone to talk to him or coo about how cute he is. (of course he hams it up them!!)
Taren is now crawling around everywhere & fast! He is pulling himself to standing & cruising along furniture & toys. He loves his push / walker toy that he can walk around the house with. He is babbling non-stop. He loves to "tell" you everything that he is thinking or what has happened while you have been gone. :) He now loves to shake his head "no" at EVERYTHING, and finds himself so amusing! He loves bath time! When he hears the water start in the bath tub he is in there within seconds standing up on the side of the tub squealing with joy. He is eating everything in sight! You can no longer take a bite of anything without sharing with him. We never have to worry about waking him up for a meal, he is ALWAYS ready to eat & will loudly protest when you are late getting him in his highchair.
Our lives are busy chasing him & around getting him out of everything (the dog dish mainly). We love every minute of our day with him! Even late at night when he wakes up crying & we are so tired & frustrated that he is up AGAIN, we love seeing his smile when we walk into the room & love it that he curls up on our chest & falls asleep.
This has been an amazingly long yet fast year! We have gone through more ups & downs then we have our wholes lives, but everyday has been rewarding & we wouldn't trade him for anything. He has come so far & surpassed every Dr. expectation of him & we are so proud to share his story & what a miracle boy he is! We cannot thank God enough for the blessing he has given us!!

We love you Taren Hunter! Happy 1st Birthday!!
Love, Mommy & Daddy